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Maximum Ride: The Manga (1)
Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of her “flock” — Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel — are just like ordinary kids, except they have wings and can fly! It may seem like a dream come true to some, but for the flock it’s more like a living nightmare. When the mysterious lab known as the “School” turns up and kidnaps their youngest member, it’s up to Max to organize a rescue, but will help come in time? This is the first manga adaptation of James Patterson's Maximum Ride novel series. It was published by Yen Press, with art by NaRae Lee. It is based on the events from chapter 1 to chapter 61 of The Angel Experiment. Story Introduction At the very beginning, fourteen year-old Maximum Ride (more commonly referred to as Max) is running away from a pack of Erasers, human-lupine hybrids created by a lab known as the School. As they are about to catch up to her, she finds herself skidding to a halt at the edge of a cliff. With the Erasers very close behind, she makes the decision to jump. Fortunately, Max has a special advantage—she has wings. As she is falling, she snaps them out and flys away. Chapter 1 Max gasps and bolts upright in bed. Then she breathes a sigh of relief—it had all been a dream. She forces herself out of bed and looks out the window, then heads to the kitchen. She says good morning to a photograph of Jeb Batchelder, a man who took care of her and the Flock like a father when they'd "first moved into this secluded house". Max gets out a bowl of an unidentified substance -- Is this edible? she thinks to herself—but is forced to quickly hide it, for one of the younger Flock members—Gazzy—soon enters the room. He asks, "What's for breakfast?" to which Max responds, "It's a surprise." Gazzy says he'll pour juice...and at that moment, a WHUMP! is heard. The noise came from Iggy, another Flock member. Being blind, he hadn't known that someone had moved the table, and he had run into it. After resolving the issue, Max rummages through the fridge, wishing "that the food fairies had come". Suddenly, she hears a swish coming from behind her; she turns around and lets out a startled gasp. It's Fang, another Flock member. Max yells at him to quit it (to which he replies, "Quit what? Breathing?"), and tells him to "Make some noise" when he moves. Afterwards, Iggy offers to make eggs, since he doesn't want Max to burn another one of their frying pans. Irritated, the fourteen-year-old girl stomps off to get Nudge and Angel, the remaining two Flock members. Max bursts into Nudge's room --''"HEY, SWEETIE, UP AND AT 'EM!"'' -- and drags her out of bed. Then she goes to get Angel, only to find that she's already dressed. She asks Max to do her buttons, and she does. Max thinks to herself about how much she loves Angel, since she's "been taking care of her practically since she was a baby." It is then revealed that Angel can read minds—she tells Max that "Maybe it's because I'm like your little girl." Then she kisses her on the cheek. At breakfast, Angel tells the Flock that she wants to go strawberry-picking, since they're ripe now. Gazzy offers to go with her...and passes gas immediately afterwards. This is met with mixed reactions—Max cries out, "OH GEEZ, GAZZY!"; Iggy pretends to be asphyxiating ("GAS...MASK!"); and Fang simply says, "I'm done." Gazzy apologizes, and Nudge makes a joke to Angel, saying that the "fresh air" would do them all good. The entire Flock then decides to go. While they're picking strawberries, Angel tells Max that she could make strawberry shortcakes if she makes cake. Iggy, sarcastically saying that the day Max makes a cake will "be the day", offers to make it instead. At once, the Flock leader leaps to her feet, yelling, "OH, THANK YOU!" Then..."OKAY, I'M NOT A FABULOUS COOK. BUT I CAN STILL KICK YOUR BUTT AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!" Fang, Nudge, and Iggy smirk; Gazzy collapses to the ground, laughing. Max goes up to him, extremely mad, and asks, "WAS THAT YOU?" It is revealed then that Gazzy can mimic others' voices; Max grabs him by the cheek and yells at him, despite his protest that it is fun. "Better noises from that end..." Nudge says in reference to what had happened at breakfast. Angel continues to laugh for a moment after...but then screams! Max and the others whirl around...and find themselves surrounded by Erasers. One of them looms threateningly over Angel, as though it's ready to attack her. The Flock does not hesitate to snap out their wings. "ERASERS!" Max shouts. Angel screams and tries to run away, but a clawed hand reaches out and grabs her. The Eraser jumps into the air and shoves her in a sack; she screams for Max and Gazzy to help. The leader of the Flock tries to save her, only to have her arms pinned behind her back by another Eraser. She attempts to struggle free, and is struck hard across the face, landing several feet away due to the amount of force from the strike. She screams for the Erasers to let go of Angel, but is kicked in the rib cage by one of them. Then she hears a voice say, "Max, good to see you again." She looks up and sees another Eraser; she then wonders if she knows him. Max asks it, "Who are you?" The Eraser responds, "You don't recognize me? I guess I've grown some." Max then realizes the startling truth: the Eraser was Ari, Jeb's son...who is only seven years old. Ari kicks her to the ground, then begins to deliver one to her head. The last thing Max thinks before she blacks out is the name of the youngest Flock member...who was taken from her just moments before. "ANGEL!" Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Afterword from NaRae Lee Characters Maximum "Max" Ride Manga Maximum.jpg|Max on the cover of Volume 1 Max is fourteen years old, and the leader of the Flock. She has blonde hair in the manga (though it changes between brown and blond in the books) and brown eyes. Category:Manga Category:Spoiler